Friday 25 May Excursion to North WalesUK Railtours
'The Snowdonian' London, Milton Keynes and Rugby to to both Llandudno
Junction and Bangor. From Llandudno Junction coaches for the scenic
trip up the Conwy Valley to Blaenau where the greatest narrow gauge
journey of all begins, right the way through via Porthmadog to
Caernarfon, where coaches will be waiting for the short hop to Bangor
where our main line train is rejoined. Half the passengers will do the
'circuit' in the opposite direction.

July 2012
Saturday 7 July Excursion to North WalesUK Railtours
'Chester and the Pennines' Stevenage, Potters Bar, Finsbury Park to
Chester (break) and then through Wigan, Blackburn and Accrington
to
Copy Pit Summit, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd before descending to
Wakefield and finally joining the East Coast Main Line to head homeward.

Llangollen
prepares for SSS3 - report by George Jones

The 21 - 29 April Llangollen Railway / Betton Grange Society Steel, Steam &
Stars III Gala will feature several visiting steam locomotives, and
public trains will run for the first time on the newly-rebuilt section
line beyond Carrog as far as Bonwm.

The new line has been packed and aligned by the hired in tamper
DR73309 (above).

The line was inspected for use and some tidying-up noted which required
topping-up of ballast. On evening of 11 April the 'Black 5' 44806
was used to work the ballast train east from Bonwm. The pictures show
it running light- engine (top) and with the ballast hopper wagons
(above).

On Sunday 15 April route learning on the extension was conducted with
train crews riding the class 104 railcar west of Carrog to have
features pointed out to them.

In the yard at Carrog work has progressed in setting down a unusual
(unique?) dual gauge track layout to accommodate the two visiting
narrow-gauge engines with Dolgoch due from the Talyllyn Railway
(2'3" gauge) and Palmerston from the 1'11½" gauge
Ffestiniog Railway.

The first of the visitors the Caledonian Railway 0-6-0 No.828
arrived at Llangollen (above) on the evening of 11 April. The
LNWR 'Coal Tank' is due on 16 April, BR Pacific Britannia and
the LNER 'N2' 0-6-2T the following day and 60163 Tornado and
the LNWR 'Super D' on Wednesday 18 April. The BR 4MT Tank 80072 is back
from its west country travels. The line up then should be complete.

The 11am service train from Llangollen on Friday 20 April is due to be
headed by Tornado with Foxcote Manor on the back to
allow a sortie west of Carrog on to the extension for volunteers
engaged in the work and invited guests. Passengers may join them on
purchase of a special Edmondson ticket which will be on sale (More
later).

Note to photographers: Pictures of trains on the extension are
available from a limited number of public places from the A5. The
available car parking is in the lay-by west of Llidiart y Parc which
may mean an element of walking to reach locations including a footpath.
Care is needed as this is a notably speedy stretch of the A5 when
traffic comes through in "flights" from the traffic lights at Corwen
and Llangollen; it is noisy and the train can be hard to hear
approaching. There is no lineside access on this section other
than at the public footpath to the Riverside Walk.

We trust all photographers will contribute to the event by purchasing a
ticket to support the gala which is being arranged at considerable
expense in the hope of making a profit towards the building of the
Grange locomotive. In addition the Llangollen railway looks towards the
further promtion of the Corwen extension project and the need for
finacial aid to allow for its completion.

Editor's note: The organisers have made a special
promotional
video aimed at those who might want to persuade friends
or family members to visit the gala.

Dee Marsh activity - report by Marc Jones

On Friday 13 April I took a fairly uneventful trip from my home in
Buckley to Neston, on my return journey I noticed some activity at Dee
Marsh sidings as the two 08s, owned by RMS Locotec, which shunt wagons
for Shotton steel coating works were performing shunting activities so
I grabbed some photos from the moving train. Above is 08 756
which is painted in British Steel light blue.

I've gone by the yard countless times and never seen any signs of life
in the sidings so this was a surprise. This is 08 936 which is dark
blue and carries the RMS lettering in a similar style to the old LMS
railway.

Also in the yard, contractors were cutting up a bogie steel carrier
which appeared to be one of the curtain-sided ones, I don't know why
the wagon was being cut up or whether this is a regular occurrence,
maybe a reader could enlighten us.

Loco miscellany

66 034 at Wrexham on 13 April with the 6M86 evening steel
coil train to Shotton, formed of the usual assortment of wagons.
Picture by Martin Evans.

37 606 at the head of the flask train, seen from the
public footpath at Old Colwyn, 12 April (Stéphanie Durrant).

Arriva Blue 57 313 worked the Saturday Pendolino on 14 April: Darren
Durrant photographed it working hard in the morning westbound out
of Colwyn Bay (above)...

... and heading for London through Old Colwyn in the afternoon. We hear
that there may be an other extra afternoon 'Pendolino drag' from Crewe
to Holyhead on 5 May (see last issue), as a
result of more engineering works 'down south.' If so, there will be a
lot of loco-hauled trains about that day as there are two excursion
trains scheduled - see forthcoming events, left column.

DVT dithering

Readers will recall that some ex-Virgin Trains Driving Van Trailer
(DVT) vehicles have been acquired by Arriva Trains Wales, with a view
to operating the Holyhead - Cardiff expresses with Class 67s in
'push-pull' mode. However, this has not happened.

Blue-painted and refurbished 82306 and 82308 have been at Cardiff
Canton for a while, but it does appear that, as we have hinted
previously, someone 'forgot' that their controls would need
modification to work with Class 67 locos. Some weeks ago, staff from
Brush were noticed working in the cab of one of then, suggesting that
something is being done to rectify this.

We understand that Arriva are not having the electric train heat
generators fitted, like Chiltern Railways, but do have the rail-sanders
to improve braking. It is still unclear what rolling stock is to be
used; some wiring changes will be needed to match Class 67s with their
American standard multiple working sockets. Theoretically, 67s can run
in multiple with Class 59, 66s, and possibly also Class 70s, which may
be useful if a train fails as a rescued train could still be driven
from the DVT (?).

A third Arriva DVT, 82307 left the Brush works in early April and is
currently being used by Chiltern. This has been done properly
from the start - it has been seen
on a Marylebone - Birmingham service with Virgin red and BR
blue/grey stock, from the collection which DB Regio have been
accumulating. Maybe we will see those coached in North Wales?
Nobody seems to know, however, exactly when the DVTs will appear in our
area, or whether loco working is to commence on the train which runs
via Wrexham. There are some suggestions that changes will occur from
the end of May, but nothing definite.

Feedback

John Hobbs writes to say that the Class 56-hauled steel
train photographed at Rossett in the mid-1980s by Dave Marks (26 March issue) would
have been from Ravenscraig steelworks in Scotland (closed down in 1992)
not South Wales as we implied in our caption.

From the same issue, the relic (above) photographed by John Murray
on the site of the one-time Sealand station has been positively
identified as the remains of a detonator placer. The mechanism allowed
allowed the signalman to place on the rail by remote control a small
explosive charge which would cause a loud bang when a train ran over it
- drivers know that such a sound means danger, proceed with extreme
caution. Detonators could also be manually fixed to the line - one or
two would be carried on trains to be placed a distance behind the train
by the crew if a train failed or otherwise stopped in an unusual place.
Another loco or train sent to push a failed train would run over the
detonator, hopefully ensuring that it would not run at full speed into
the failure.

Nick Jones writes: 'It would have been operated by Sealand
box - usually a white lever with black chevrons - the chevrons were
either 'up' or 'down' according to which line they applied. The
picture, I'm almost certain, depicts a single-shot placer.
Double-shot placers were also used at some locations.'

'Generally they were used in areas that were prone to fog (this may
have applied to the flat land of Sealand) and were usually in advance
of a distant signal that may have been difficult to sight. The distant
would have been in the section rather than in station limits although
at this location some signals were combined i.e. a distant and stop
signal on the same post. This was common practice in areas were there
was a requirement for short blocks. The two signals on the same post
were operated wholly independently - the distant applying to the stop
signal in advance.'

Following our item on the Llanddulas shipwreck, Eryl Crump
writes to point out that view of the demolition of the ship will not be
possible from the North Wales Cycleway, as we suggested - it has been
closed at that location while the work is completed. Above, another
view by Greg Mape, showing a 175 having just passed the site of
the accident.

An interesting fact about 67 002, now allocated to Arriva Trains Wales
workings (above at Holyhead by M.Lloyd Davies) reader Eddie
Knorn writes to remind us that this machine, then named Special
Delivery, was involved in a rather spectacular accident near
Bristol in 2000, running away with its postal train past a signal at
danger and into the rear of a coal train; the loco finished up on top
of the coal wagons and wedged under a bridge. The driver was injured,
but survived the experience, and the loco was repaired. Good old
Youtube has some footage
of
the
aftermath. We don't want any of that sort of thing in North
Wales!

Chester contrasts, 14 April - pictures by Roly High

After running in black livery for a while, as it briefly did when first
built in 1951, 70000 now wears the British Railways green with orange
and black lining and early 1950s 'unicycling lion' symbol. It is said
that Mr Riddles, BR's chief engineer from nationalisation in 1948, who
in his youth had worked for the London and North Western Railway,
favoured LNWR black livery on BR, but 'top brass' insisted that the
more important passenger engines should be more colourful. After
attempts to use blue paint which apparently proved to fade too quickly,
by 1951 a version of the Great Western Railway livery had won the day.
Black was kept for non-express locos, and also appeared on the first
passenger diesels.

70000 has a Westinghouse-style steam-driven air pump, which allows it
to haul air-braked rolling stock, now standard on National Rail. Right,
one of the loco crew agrees the next move with the Chester signaller....

... before the loco and support coach proceed into the sidings of the
Alstom depot where the tender is replenished with coal. The next step
would be to run the loco and support coach round the triangle of lines
west of Chester station in order to face south for the return journey.

67 028 at the other end of the train.

The coaches were something of a mixed lot: on the left (above), a Mk 1
First Class open coach in the chocolate and cream livery applied by
Riviera Trains, on the right a maroon vehicle painted for the Scottish
Railway Preservation Society which owns a set of main-line coaches.
Note the different bogies: on the right, the 'commonwealth' style and
on the left the simpler B4 type which was developed by BR engineers.

Ready for departure. This loco will be working on the Llangollen
Railway from 21 April - see the 'SSS3' item above.

Also seen in Chester station, the modern equivalents of the Britannias,
Class 221 'Voyager' units of Virgin trains, which also carry names of
famous travellers. Above, waiting in Platform 1 to return to
London is 221 106Willem Barents.

Willem
Barents (originally Barentsz) was a sixteen-century Dutchman who
explored the Arctic in the hope if finding a north-east passage from
Europe to the far east.

221 101Louis Bleriot and 221 102John
Cabot forming a ten car train to Euston. 44 of these Class 221/1
tilting versions of the Voyager were built by Bombardier; when the
Cross-Country franchise was lost by Virgin in favour of Arriva, some
went to Arriva which removed the names.

Virgin's final share after some temporary arrangements was 5-car sets
221 101 - 118 and 4-car sets 221 142 - 144. 221 144 has been disbanded,
and its non-driving coaches added to other sets; it was named Prince
Madoc - what happened to the nameplates? Only units 101 to 113 and
143 now carry the 'traveller' names - see our Class 221 page for the
full list. Others were de-named when temporarily used by Arriva, and
the nameplates were not restored when they returned, as Virgin had sold
them for charity in the meantime, even though it was known that they
were returning. 221 142 has been re-named named Bombardier Voyager
after its manufacturer and has a special livery, and 221 115 has been
re-named Polmadie Depot.